Dr. Greenfield

1. Dr. Greenfield, you will be presenting your own research and also presenting the work that you've been doing with Dr. D'Adamo, please tell us a bit about both lectures.

The first lecture is on one of my favourite subjects: nutritional genetics, which looks at how the things we eat or take as natural medicine can alter the gene-environment interaction - the individual's 'constitution' to which naturopaths often refer.

The second lecture is a fascinating if somewhat obscure subject: archaeogenetics, or how a cluster of genetic information get passed down the family line in a group, and how ancestral inheritance can be traced through genes. Dr. D'Adamo will expand on past concepts to introduce his own new research.

2. I understand that you have been working with Dr. D'Adamo to create The Individualist, a Wikipedia type knowledge base of human genetics and variation. That must be fascinating work – what can you tell us about that project.

The Individualist is a wiki, a collaboration of contributions from any interested party that creates a closely linked network of pages referring to each other. Dr. D'Adamo has created this as an ongoing reference for those interested in human individuality, and also a valuable learning tool for those taking the IfHI certification. To join the collaboration just sign up by following the links from http://www.dadamo.com/wiki/wiki.pl/Welcome - it's very addictive.

3. You have been a long time supporter of IfHI and you have received IfHI Master Certification. How has this helped you in your medical practice?

Before I found out about Dr. D'Adamo's work I thought everyone had to be put on a whole food raw food vegetarian diet, to get healthy, and quickly found that it did not suit all patients. Having an IfHI Master Certification has given me the confidence to carry out appropriate tests on patients and to treat them as individuals not only through personalised dietary recommendations, but also in identifying suitable natural medicines. I have something valuable to offer when talking to my peers or when writing, and am fortunate in having a unique subject on which to lecture.

4. You are a frequent lecturer on blood group polymorphisms, what have the responses been to those lectures from both the medical community and lay people?

Lay people tend to be very interested in the subject, having less preconceived ideas about the concept, and are happy to accept the basic concept of blood groups as part of a major haplotype. For example, it is often easy to point out the different characteristics and health challenges expressed by individuals of blood groups A and O to parents with children of those blood groups. Unfortunately there are fewer medics in Europe who are prepared to examine the growing body of evidence that blood types are anything beyond a transfusion complication. I am slowly working on the naturopathic community in the UK, who are ideally placed to bring the work to the public.

Dr. Emily Kane

1. Dr. Kane, your topic for the conference is Gender as Polymorphism, can you please give us some insight on the research that you will be presenting?

Although I am studying some of the gender-based differences in hepatic detoxification pathways, ocular and cerebral function, I am primarily interested in mitochondrial transmission of genetic information and the necessity of having 2 genders in order to achieve offspring with compatible genetic codes.

2. How has the understanding of the genetic variations between the genders helped you in your practice?

Gender differences inform me with broad approaches to the patient, such as most male patients are less likely to have consciously improved their diets and are slightly more likely to be hung up with social power issues. Women tend to feel somewhat more guilty about taking time for themselves and are usually more stoic about chronic pain or insomnia. Women, by an large, are much more prone to auto-immune disease and also have more difficulty clearing drugs and alcohol due to smaller livers, for example.

3. Please tell me a bit about your book, Managing Menopause Naturally.

It was published in late 2005, and is a compilation of a decade of research, mostly from my clinical practice, but also from consultations with mentors Cathy Rogers, ND and Tori Hudson ND. The book has 3 sections: the first covers common symptoms of menopause (weird periods, lost my keys... again, losing my hair too...) and the second section details numerous wonderful natural substances to help with the symptoms in the previous section. There is a treatment synopsis or case study at the end of each of these chapters. The final section of the book has 3 chapters on how to avoid cancer, how to avoid heart disease and how to organize a healthy lifestyle for your own individual needs. It's available on amazon.com or through the publisher (multiple book purchase discounts available) Basic Health Publications.

4. Why do you feel that it’s important to present this work at IfHI?

Because the forum draws people who are interested both in human potential and also biological differences between people. Gender as polymorphism is a topic people can relate to along the whole gamut from molecular biology to social systems of large populations. The topic stretches back to the dawn of life (without mitochondria there would have been no evolution) and into the future as "nano-medicine" will allow us more accurate insight into genetic individuality.

Dr. Gerhard Uhlenbruck

1. We are honored, and extremely fortunate to have you as a speaker at this year’s IfHI conference. When did you last speak in the United States? Why did you feel that it was important to speak at the Institute for Human Individuality conference?

I have been twice invited for lecturing at congresses in the USA:
1971 on blood group substances, their immunochemistry and the discovery of lectins, and in 1982 to a Meeting of the NY Acad. Sci. on C-reactive Protein, because we did a lot of investigations on this plasma protein.
Meanwhile it has turned out to be one of the most important markers for calculating the health status of a person. Besides, my work has shown, that human individuality does play an essential role in the response to a medical therapy, to different forms of stress, including metabolic stress and physical performances. Within the framework of a personalized medicine, I have postulated, that each individuum modifies a general illness scheme in a very differentiated and very individual way: No one responds to the challenge of an illness like the other, not even like his mother! Any treatment should take this into consideration, although the modern MD is extremely short in time for his patients, who check-in for a check-up.

2. Can you give us a brief description of your lecture “From Fast Food to Fast Feet and from General Feeding to Individualized Food.”

The title counteracts the so-called Metabolic Syndrome X , the modern health killer No. 1, with high blood pressure, lipid overload and obesity, arteriosclerosis and (pre-)diabetes. This situation needs an individual orientated anti-strategy and a general sense-making lifestyle-modifying logistic plan, which includes exercise, a health promoting food with caloric restriction and some supplements, developement of a stress-resistance and a happy aging outlook by enjoying still love-life and the love to live, at best in a well-feeling family biotop. I also propagate "The survival of the wittest" and not only of the fittest! In other words: The personal health policy consists of a permanent creative process in cooperation with health care specialists in finding out what fits to one best. Of course some aspects on my research on blood groups and lectins will be included as this field offers some markers of the immunochemical personal profile anf finger-print.

3. How will health care practitioners be able to incorporate this information into their work?

These considerations do have practical aspects, because it seems to me important to activate people to stabilze their health, as without enjoying a good health, our life quality is drastically reduced. It is the art of medical care to give individual suggestions, considering the genetic background, the psychological situation and the present lifestyle of a patient, including his cultural activities too! When the brain is always active, thanks to thinking, this influences also the immune system and accordingly, education is necessary for our health.
Health, happiness, hobby and recreation: that is often enough for motivation! And the benefit of being fit does fit to us! In activity is better than inactivity!

4. I understand that you will be also speaking on sports medicine. What do you envision as the future of this field?

The future of this expanding field lies, as I see it, in the area of exercise immunology, a discipline which I and some other scientific collegues have established in the last years on the basis of our investigations. We founded on this occasion the International Society for Exercise and Immunology and have regular International Meetings. Now we can define what are the health effects of sport or excercise: The main result of moderate endurance training is the down-regulation of pro-inflammatory processes and the up-regulation of anti-inflammatory reactions, the latter being responsible for maintaining health in case they dominate the first. Chronic, unfortunately not clinical relevant inflammatory stress like overweight, obesity and the absence of any exercise or a permanent tissue stress by local infections (teeth!) or pollutants and tobacco smoke provokes pro-inflammatory burning without the flame of signaling already the clinical picture of an illness. Three miles a day keeps the doctor away! And half an hour of daily exercise keeps people healthy, fit and wise ( that means 2,000 - 2,500 kcal per week) If, in addition, you like to read books and to train your memory, you will be on the correct road to a content well-being. And not to forget: The heart of health is your soul!.